Mount Olive Will Add Women’s Lacrosse In 2012-13

Mount Olive College will add women’s lacrosse in 2012-13 and Grant Kelam has been named as head coach, it was announced Wednesday by Director of Athletics Jeff Eisen. The announcement of the addition of women’s lacrosse comes just four weeks after Mount Olive announced the addition of men’s lacrosse. Kelam officially begins his duties January 1, but he has already started recruiting for next year’s team.

The addition of women’s and men’s lacrosse not only increases the number of Trojan sports teams to 20, but also gives Mount Olive a team in every sport sponsored by Conference Carolinas. Mount Olive becomes the ninth Conference Carolinas school to sponsor women’s lacrosse, joining Belmont Abbey, Coker, Erskine, Converse, Lees-McRae, Limestone, Pfeiffer and Queens. The Trojans will begin competition in spring 2013.

“We are very excited to be adding women’s lacrosse to our athletics program,” said Eisen. “Like men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse is a growing sport and this is a great opportunity for Mount Olive College to be a part of that growth. We are particularly excited to have Grant Kelam in charge of the women’s lacrosse team.”

Eisen added, “Our goal from the start has been to start competing in both men’s and women’s lacrosse in Spring 2013. Under the leadership of Grant and head men’s lacrosse coach Mike Lawson, I’m confident we will hit the ground running in both sports right away.”

Kelam comes to Mount Olive from Tennessee Wesleyan College, where he spent the past two years as head women’s lacrosse coach. Kelam took over a program that had gone winless the year before his arrival and led the team to a National Women’s Lacrosse League (NWLL) championship in his second year. Tennessee Wesleyan posted an 11-5 overall record and a 5-0 conference mark in 2011 after a 5-9 record the previous year.

Under Kelam, six Tennessee Wesleyan student-athletes were named to the All-NWLL Women’s Lacrosse Team and four student-athletes earned NWLL All-Academic honors. Kelam was instrumental in the formation of the National Women’s Lacrosse League, the first-ever women’s lacrosse conference in the NAIA.

Kelam also has international experience, having served as an assistant coach with the Denmark National Lacrosse Team. Kelam was a member of Denmark’s coaching staff during the 2010 FIL World Lacrosse Championship in Manchester, England.

Kelam earned his B.S. in sports management from Lindenwood University (Mo.) and his MBA in sports management from Missouri Baptist University, where he served as a graduate assistant coach for the men’s lacrosse team.

“Mount Olive College presents an amazing atmosphere for student-athletes to reach their full potential in the classroom as well as on the lacrosse field,” said Kelam. “ I could not be more excited about the opportunity to build the first women's lacrosse team in school history. With the commitment towards excellence that Mount Olive College has shown through the athletics department, I am confident that this team has a bright future.”

Along with the addition of men’s and women’s lacrosse, Mount Olive College currently sponsors baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, and men’s and women’s volleyball.